The Hope of Sand and Leaf
by To-MAH-To
Summary: Slash. Read warnings inside. This story is about the interconnecting relationships between the Suna siblings and the Konoha ninjas. Starts off with The Sand being attacked, and Gaara being forced to adopt a child... Rating could change, we'll see.


**The Hope of Sand and Leaf**

**Warnings/Author's Note: Slash (mostly male/male, one female/female) and, due to the fact that I've only read up to the "Save Gaara!" arc of Shippuden, it's not going to be canon at all. **

**The main warning is this: We're giving Gaara (the psycho) a small child. So there.**

**Full List of Eventual Pairings: Naruto x Gaara; Temari x Shikamaru; Kankarou x Shino; Hinata x Kiba; Sakura x Ino; Tobi x Kakashi; and a few other pairings that don't really matter or will be side-pairings/for comedic purposes/won't come up a lot. **

**This first chapter is dedicated to my best buddy, beta-reader, and the reason I'm writing fan fiction again. Thanks Nikki! (And speaking of, if I happened to keep one of her comments somewhere, it'd be nice if someone pointed it out. I'm rather absent-minded, yeah? ;D)  
**

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**Chapter 1 – Intruders in the Sand**

The Kazekage gazed out from his balcony, staring at his town. It was late at night, and as usual, he couldn't sleep. He felt like his psyche was in some sort of limbo, between being constructive and destructive. For the first twelve years of his life, he had lived with no abandon—and the sequential three years felt strange, unrealistic… During those years, he felt like he was morphing from a monster into an actual person, one whose destiny was to lead his country.

And now, without Shukaku, he was beginning to realize that he'd never been _Gaara_, he'd been the shadow of the demon that slept within him. He still felt like an insomniac most days, though he did require sleep to function. He was learning to get along in battles without his 'ultimate defense,' and he had even grown to be close to his elder sister and brother.

But he still understood one universal truth—he still wasn't socially stable. His elder sister and brother tried to help him make friends, even on some occasions, date, but none of those situations had ever ended… pleasantly. For the other party, at least—Gaara had yet to meet anyone that he cared for in the slightest.

So there he stood, looking out on his dark, quiet city, staring at the small clouds of dust that were swept up by stray swirls of wind, when he saw a dark movement underneath a streetlight.

His eyes narrowed and he quickly bit his thumb. After twelve years of needing the sand gourd on his back at all times, he had finally agreed to summon it via a Summoning Jutsu when he needed it because Temari and Kankarou thought it was unhealthy for him to carry the gourd around. He mumbled, "Summoning Jutsu," and in a swirl of dust, the gourd was on the ground in front of him.

He slung it across his back, securing it into place, and jumped down from the balcony. The Jonin on guard at the front of the Kazekage building jumped back, startled—he had noticed Gaara's presence on the balcony, but he had been standing still for the past two hours, so the Jonin had grown accustomed to its stable immobility. "S-sir?" he stuttered out.

Gaara swung his head back to face the man. "Alert my brother and sister. There are intruders in the village. If we are not back in a half-hour, send other reinforcements."

"B-but, y-your brother is still recovering..." the Jonin began.

Gaara sighed, knowing that there was truth to the Jonin's words. Yes, Kankarou had suffered some minimal damage—just a few fractured ribs, nothing that was so _terribly_ painful—in his last mission. He didn't like to admit it, but he didn't feel right when he was fighting unless his brother and sister were fighting with him. He would, but only if they were gone or mortally wounded. "Tell him to come, and to only bring Karasu. Also, tell him to stay behind Temari and me, and to reserve his chakra."

Gaara rushed forward to 'greet' the intruders before the Jonin could utter any words of affirmation or argument, and that was the way Gaara liked to keep his relationships with his subordinates. He liked to assume obedience, even if it was in his brother's best interests that he wasn't involved, at least while he was in his debilitated condition. Gaara felt like one day he'd get his brother or sister killed… He knew it was childish, but since he'd evolved from the psychotic small child, he'd become even more child-like in regards to his family. He clung to them without abandon… He needed them.

He still hadn't managed the words, but he felt a great deal of affection and, perhaps even… love… for them.

As he thought this, running in between buildings searching for the intruders, he slowly reached forth to touch the mark on his forehead. He wished he could scour it off of his skin, but that was how he'd made the mark—he'd etched it there just after his uncle died. His emotional pain from that incident was so great that he hadn't even felt the sand scraping away his skin, and the sand itself had done that. To get rid of the mark now would probably require a professional's help.

_There_.

With movements so quick that only another ninja could match them, he pulled off the cork to his gourd and slung his hand forward. His chakra control of the sand was now all his own and, though he'd been doing it for nearly five years without the help of Shukaku, he still felt uneasy using chakra without the Shukaku as the ultimate safety net.

The clumps of sand shot up and out of the gourd. The same attack, years ago, would have been flawless, and the sand would have come out perfectly kunai or shuriken shaped. But this time, they came out as rock or spike shaped, and though it made little difference when he put enough force behind the attack, it still bothered him somewhat.

Even though he still worried over his chakra, the spike-shaped clumps of sand still seemed to land on the mark. The body fell forward from the shadows, spikes jutting from the man's torso. The man wasn't dead yet, but he was giving the tell-tale gasps of death. Instead of the heart, he'd punctured a lung or two. In moments, the man's life would escape him.

Funny how that no longer amused or enthralled Gaara. Killing was just a part of his job now and no longer the reason for his existence. Now, his reason was keeping the Sand safe, and protecting those whom he would die for, and who cared enough to do the same for him.

He felt the presence of his brother and sister behind him, his sister following much more closely and quickly than his brother. He felt a small pang of guilt for asking his brother to come along, but he knew Kankarou would never complain—not out loud, at the very least. Well, the accurate statement would be that Kankarou would not complain to _him_—Gaara had never heard it, but apparently, his elder brother was whiny at times.

"To the right," Temari said in a small whisper, so low that Gaara could scarcely hear her. He turned obediently, and slung spikes of sand in that direction at the same instance that Temari let out bursts of wind to guide his spikes towards their target. The wind also amplified the speed (and therefore, the strength) of the spikes. This time, the spikes landed directly in the other ninja's heart, and had propelled so quickly that they landed on the ground behind the ninja instead of jutting out of the ninja's chest.

Gaara didn't even notice a gender before he was rushing forward again, trying desperately to sense any other enemy ninja. He could feel his brother's chakra near him, and he instinctively knew that Kankarou was using his strings of chakra to sense movements in the adjacent area.

"Three twenty meters ahead and to the right—and closing," he muttered. "There are some others around thirty meters behind them and to the left." He'd picked up some ideas from Neji of Konoha, who had fought a certain Sound ninja that used chakra in a similar way. Kankarou would be mostly focused on finding enemy ninjas in this case—with his wounds, Gaara wasn't planning on allowing him to fight.

"Is it bothering you?" Temari asked.

"Yeah… they're too weak. It's like they're not putting up a fight…" Gaara responded.

"Even if it's a diversionary tactic, it isn't like we can stop," Kankarou added. They were now closing in on their enemies, and those three were killed just as easily.

They didn't have time to continue any semblance of a conversation before they were met with the second group of ninja. Gaara was only using the spikes to conserve chakra, as he wasn't sure whether or not they'd be fighting more enemies that were stronger soon.

When he slung the spikes at the second group, however, Temari yelled in alarm as if she didn't want him to hit the target. "A kid?" Kankarou called from the back. It was too late to stop their path, but when Gaara saw what Temari yelled about, he quickly blunted the projectiles, which was the most he could do at the last second.

With a wave of her hand, Temari sent a small gust of wind that knocked the blunted spikes. She'd always been able to do this, but there was never any convenient use for that tactic—her fan was always more desirable, as it amplified the wind into a combat-usable form.

Gaara had been aiming for the chest of each enemy ninja, and the other spikes hit their marks. The child had been struck in the head by one of the blunted spikes, but he'd live through it. "Kankarou. Take the child to the hospital."

"That's weird…" Kankarou mumbled, before saying in a louder voice, "The other ninja that I sensed to the far right are changing course. They're leaving the village."

"We'll pursue," Gaara said, this time to Temari. "Maybe we'll find something."

***

After a night of trying to find the rest of the enemy ninja, Gaara, Temari, Kankarou, and the other ninja who eventually joined the chase, they finally gave up at around dawn. They were absolutely positive that none of the other ninja had remained in the village, and they were also sure that they came from the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

However, they could not find reason for the child. They couldn't even be sure that the child was or wasn't innocent—but the child did suffer some mental damage.

They sent the child to a medical ninja, and the results were that the child's memories would be skewed, and may even never be repaired. As the child was so young, only four or five at the most, his speech was even reverted to the abilities of a toddler.

However, there were more pressing matters than that of the child. As Kazekage, Gaara brought together the advisory council, which had grown to include his brother and sister, as well as the other traditional members. He greatly valued the opinions of Baki, Temari, and Kankarou, and after being Kazekage for some time, even began to value the opinions of the other members.

But in this case, he felt a strong emotional dislike towards nearly everyone in the council. He'd vowed not to hate anyone from his village, but sometimes… They made it difficult.

"We should kill the child," one member, Takashiro, proclaimed strongly. "He could be extremely powerful, or a spy sent here by the Cloud. We need to think of the village's safety!"

"He's just a little brat!" Kankarou yelled back. "I mean, what kind of five-year-old could destroy an entire village?"

Wordlessly, everyone, including Temari and Kankarou, glanced quickly at Gaara. They returned to the argument at hand.

"Power may sometimes favor the young, as well as the older," said a more experienced and calmer ninja, Satorou. "We cannot be entirely sure of the child's origins or strength, and though it will be a travesty, we must think of the village first, Kankarou."

"It's just a kid!" Temari yelled back. "He hasn't attacked anyone, and it seems like he's even lost his memory! What kind of person could live with killing an innocent child?"

Baki, though he was also against killing the child, said with a sigh, "Temari, as ninja, we must distance ourselves. As a ninja, you must be able to be strong no matter what horrors you've committed or witnessed."

Gaara spoke, finally, for the first time. His word was always the final word in a debate, though he always waited until he felt a subject was debated on for a decent amount of time. A good deal of the time, he allowed himself to simply be ordered by the council, when it suited the village to do so. But this time, he'd have to speak his thoughts.

"Baki, you're correct. But as a ninja, we must also have a set of morals… Otherwise, we are not ninja, but psychotic killers with no respect towards life." His gaze shifted across everyone, noting that they all seemed to be in agreement thus far. "This child may have some hidden strength, but until we are sure of what it is, it is unethical to kill him. And, by allowing the child to live, we may discover more about the Village Hidden in the Cloud, and we may thusly gain an advantage."

"However," everyone's gaze shifted from Gaara and automatically back to Satorou, "We need to be certain that the child cannot harm the village. I propose that you, Kazekage, must keep a watch on him. As the strongest person in the village, I am certain you will be able to handle him."

"But what if the child is _too_ powerful? What if it's a demon container? We've heard whispers of the Cloud trying to imitate the Akatsuki…" Takashiro warned.

"Do you question the Kazekage's power?" Temari was finally happy with the ay the debate was going. She was sitting back in her seat, and though she wasn't outwardly showing any emotion, Kankarou and Gaara could feel the smugness radiating from her. She was ecstatic that things had turned out her way, and she wasn't concealing it all too well.

"Believe me, if anyone can handle the child, it is our Gaara," Baki said.

"And with that," Satorou said, "I believe this meeting is over." They all stood up, except for Gaara, Temari, and Kankarou.

"Gaara," Temari began with a serious look on her face. "You can't just watch the kid. You understand? You'll have to bond with him, if we're going to attempt to change the child's alignment."

"Yeah… You know, the kid might really have some amazing power. Knocking out the kid's memories might really be a good thing. He might do the whole baby-duckling thing to you."

"Baby… duckling?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah, as soon as a duckling hatches, it thinks the first thing it sees is its mother. If you're the first person to be really nice to the kid…"

"It'll think I'm its mother?"

"No! Well, kind of. Father, hopefully, if the kid has any sense of gender," Kankarou corrected.

***

Gaara walked through the hospital, Temari and Kankarou behind him. He felt extremely awkward, though he greeted everyone who bowed to him in passing. He wasn't sure how to deal with small children, aside from teaching combat tactics to Academy-level ninja.

Now, there was an idea. How young were they enrolling the children into the Academy? Around five, the same age as the little boy. Of course, he wouldn't be learning anything like weapons training; he'd just be studying the extreme basics, but it could still benefit the boy.

Well, and make things a lot easier on Gaara. It was easier to raise a ninja child than a normal child, especially for him.

But the child would still have to learn to function properly again before he could be enrolled in school. As Kazekage, it wouldn't have been a problem to enroll in mid-year, but maybe the wait until the next enrollment date could do the child good.

Gaara wasn't aware of it, but he was already planning ahead, as if he knew he'd have the child for a long time.

When they got to the little boy's room, a nurse beckoned them closely and told them about the child's injuries. She told them that the boy suffered some memory loss (which they'd heard around three times previously), and after they ushered her out of the room, they turned their attention to the child. He was sitting on the hospital bed, looking almost forlornly down at the blanket across his lap, his eyes blank.

He was a cute child, with short dark brown hair and amber eyes. He was a normal skin tone, but more on the side of tan than pale. For a child, his body was somewhat muscled, as if he'd been through training. He was dressed in a light beige hospital robe, which wrapped tightly around his torso and was tied tightly to keep from falling.

"Boy," Gaara said, and the child's gaze slowly shifted from his sheets, "You'll be coming with us." Gaara could sense the boy's anxiety, and Temari lightly hit Gaara on the back of his head.

"You can't talk to him like that. He's just a kid," Temari said strictly. She'd worked at the Academy for some time before becoming a Jonin, and was rather skilled at speaking to children. She leaned forward, a smile on her face. "Little boy, do you remember your name?"

The boy's eyes seemed to recognize the words, and he slowly said, "N-no…" with a stutter.

"Gaara, you'll have to name him," Kankarou said with a smirk.

"How do you go about naming a kid?" Gaara asked, once again, honestly confused.

"Well, you're Gaara no Subaku… So how about something that begins with Suba?" Kankarou offered.

"Subamaru?" Temari offered.

"You're not trying to name the kid after Shikamaru, are you?" Kankarou leaned forward and smirked at his sister. "Besides, Subamaru sounds stupid."

"Subashi," Gaara said, in the same tone of finality that he had used when he proclaimed that they wouldn't kill the boy.

"Subashi… Sounds good," Temari agreed, and Kankarou nodded.

"Subashi, do you like that?" Gaara asked, and the boy slowly said that he didn't mind it.

"So, Subashi, would you come with us please? Big Sister needs to show you to your new room. You're going to be staying here for a while, okay?"

The boy slowly pointed to Temari, and asked, "Name?"

Temari pointed at herself and said, "Temari," then to Kankarou, "Kankarou," and lastly, Gaara, and said, "Daddy."

Gaara turned to Temari, startled, but the boy began repeating names. "'Mari," he repeated, pointing at Temari, "Kanky," he said to Kankarou, and then "Daddy."

"Hey, hey, it's Kan-ka-rou."

"Kan… ka…rou… Kanky," the boy repeated the child-like nickname, simply because he could say it faster. "'Mari, and Daddy," the boy repeated, proud of himself. Temari, unlike Kankarou, did not mind her nickname, but Gaara wasn't amused.

"My name is…" Gaara began to say, but Temari grabbed his sleeve.

"You're basically going to watch the kid, so at least let him have a father figure, huh?" Temari's gaze shifted downwards, "Every kid deserves at least that, right? A parent?"

Gaara felt a pang of sadness as she said this, but on some level, knew that Temari did, too. Temari had been the only one of the three to somewhat remember their mother, and she'd been the one to truly understand how far their father distanced himself from his children, all three of them, after their mother passed.

"I suppose each child does. But I am not certain…" Gaara shifted uncomfortably.

"I am," Temari said with a soft smile, and Kankarou nodded in response, agreeing.

"Besides, you said you'd learned what having bonds between people means now, right? That includes parental bonds," Kankarou said, "Or at least the bond between a mentor and a pupil, or something like that."

"Fine," Gaara looked at Subashi, and said, "I'm Daddy. You're going to be spending a lot of time with me, so… let's get along well?"

"Mmkay, Daddy," the boy said. There wasn't even a basic understanding of the word 'daddy,' he spoke it as if it were a name. Gaara had spoken of his own father in the same tone after his Uncle died, saying "father" as if that were the only thing he could call the man. There was no meaning behind the words, no love… And yet, Gaara felt a small spark of joy when Subashi said 'daddy.'

"Come on, Subashi," Temari said warmly, holding out a hand. Subashi took it mechanically, and the two of them started for the door. Kankarou and Gaara followed, Kankarou just behind the boy, and Gaara further behind Temari. As they walked, Gaara noticed Kankarou put a hand on Subashi's head, patting him as if he were a dog.

After about the third time, Subashi said, "No, Kanky, stop it…" Kankarou did the patting motion again, and Subashi turned to Temari. "'Mari, tell him to stop…"

"Kankarou, patting him on the head bothers him. Stop now," Gaara said.

"Yeah, yeah, oh Lord Kazekage…" Kankarou mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets dejectedly.

"Thanks, Daddy!"

"Oi, Kankarou, don't make fun of his title," Temari scolded, and Kankarou just smiled in response.

"Come on, it isn't like I'm going to be punished or anything, right, Gaa…ra?"

Gaara had stopped in his steps. The manner in which Subashi asked Kankarou to stop, and the way he said thanks… It was almost as if the child belonged there. He was starting to show more emotion already, compared to five minutes ago in the hospital room.

That, and he'd been truly touched by the warmth in the child's voice when he was thanked.

But still, there was something unsettling about how quickly the child adapted to the situation…

"You coming?" Temari finally asked, snapping Gaara out of his musing thoughts.

"Uh, yeah…" he said, and followed his brother, sister, and child.

Having a child, Gaara thought, would probably be his most interesting mission ever…


End file.
